Te Awamutu College First XV’s journey to Waikato U18 Div II glory

Te Awamutu College First XV are the 2024 Waikato U18 Div II championship victors.

Te Awamutu College First XV are the 2024 Waikato U18 Div II championship victors after defeating St Paul’s Collegiate Second XV 14-10 in Hamilton on Saturday.

It is the squad’s second piece of silverware in 2024 after the July Waipā Cup win against Cambridge High School First XV.

The team won six games and lost just one in the round-robin.

“The character of the boys showed in the final, especially when the only game we lost was against the same team three weeks before,” coach Willem Poolman said.

“One of the boys came off after the game and said, ‘that’s not happening again’. Then we had a must-win match to get to the final because there were no semis.

“Being 10-0 down at halftime in the final, all three of us coaches were pretty worried. The boys got into the huddle at halftime, and you could sense it wasn’t over, they were ready.”

The success is a culmination of the development work that players and management have put in since October last year.

Summer sports are limited and the team wanted to stay together as a February start was too late to build a close and performing side.

Coach Carl Sheridan said the team spent the summer learning, bonding, training and developing as people on and off the field.

Part of the development is making sure the students spend time together as a team, but also giving them one-on-one opportunities so the management “can help grow better people”.

It’s about preparing the players for life and immersing them in the community.

Te Awamutu College First XV players celebrate their championship win. Photo / Jolene Emery

“We want to help our players understand their belonging, where they come from and what it means to be a part of Te Awamutu,” Sheridan said.

“[The buy-in from the players] is everything. We had 38 turn up to the muster and we didn’t have less than 20 every Tuesday at 6am – there will be an even bigger buy-in at the end of this year. You build a community; you build belonging and they will come.

“I could not fault our boys and their commitment this year.”

The wider development squad trained on Tuesday mornings at 6am and again at 3.30pm for nine weeks with some training over the Christmas break.

They hit the ground running in February, training twice a week until pre-season.

Winning their two pre-season games with ease gave the management the opportunity to see more than 28 players perform before final squad selection.

From there, they lost the first grading game against Hamilton Boys’ High School Third XV before winning the next two grading games.

The coaches are proud of their crew and their championship victory, but more so about how they won – together.

“It’s about creating memories, lasting memories. I try and use words like connectedness, treasure and memories – all those things are really important. Winning is one thing but creating memories and lasting friendships is all part of the journey together as team,” Sheridan said.

“Psychologically, young men typically disengage with their family life at around that 13-15 years old and they find new belongings. So, it’s about building something that they can belong to that’s proactive and good for their own health and mental space.”

The coaches would like to thank all the parents, supporters and the local community for getting behind them this season.

They would like to thank and acknowledge their naming sponsors Harcourts’ Kerry and Jo Harty as well as other sponsors Te Awamutu Sports, Pirongia Rugby Club, Farm Source, Focused Physiotherapy, ME Accountants, Pak’nSave and Edmonds Judd.

“We had lots of supporters every week, travelling supporters and also [manager] Emma Gedye, Carl and [coach] Chris Shields – the other three in management – everyone did their job well and the players showed strong commitment,’ Poolman said.

“The local clubs supported us well. Pirongia and Te Awamutu Sports offered their grounds, their vans for us to go to events and to the Northern Region Tournament next week. They put their hands up if we needed anything. Sports gave their scrum machine to us. There’s a real pride in the community.

“You don’t have to go far to find a good rugby programme. We’ve really invested in this programme and a lot of the boys have grown from October to now – it’s pretty amazing.”

Other highlights included challenging Matamata College for the Tricolor Trophy – a game they lost narrowly but gained a lot of confidence from – and beating an unbeaten Te Kūiti High School side 27-10 in the King Country – a must-win last round-robin game to make the final.

With the Northern Region Tournament in Pukekohe and the game against former Te Awamutu College First XV coming up in September, there’s still more to come for the young players.

Six have also been named in Waikato age-grade teams.

The management hopes to include all secondary years in the 2025 development programme plus an extended invitation to Year 7 and 8 rugby players.

“We are also looking into some more specific positional and player programmes around all aspects for rugby fitness and skills,” Sheridan said.

“We’re really proud of what’s been achieved with the development programme over the past 12 months and we’re massively grateful for anyone that’s supported us.

“We look forward to seeing how it develops again as we regroup for 2025 in term 4.”

Representative players:

Corey MacKenzie – Waikato Māori Under-16

Xavier Shields – Waikato Māori Under-16

Cooper Gedye – Waikato Under-16

Jacob Sheridan – Waikato Under-16

Teina Beets – New Zealand Harlequins Under-17

Brody Emery – New Zealand Harlequins Under-17

Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.